


Beautiful Skyrim Weather

by Mecha_Maid



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-06 12:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11600325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mecha_Maid/pseuds/Mecha_Maid
Summary: One-shots and other stories based around the Dragonborn and Serana's relationship as they explore Skyrim together.





	1. Weather

**Author's Note:**

> **This is a collection of shorts that I've had on my laptop for a while now, some of them being experiences I've had in the game myself, or based off of tumblr posts I've seen. I couldn't find places to fit them into my main Serana/DB story,[To Oblivion and Back](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7724962/chapters/17606686), so I've decided to post them separately.  
>  Suggestions are welcome.**

Her travel companion groaned quite obnoxiously behind her, just begging for her attention.

Sighing, the Dragonborn ignored Serana, using her hands to brush aside a tangle of branches blocking her way. Her boots crunched into the dead leaves littering the forest floor, sinking nearly to her ankle into the spongy ground below.

Serana's sounds of movement were always close at her back, so her occasional imploring sounds of complaint were also quick to reach the Dragonborn's ears.

Serana's constant whining  _could_  have been annoying, if this routine between them had not become so scripted that the Dragonborn could practically predict every word that was going to come out of the vampire's mouth before she even spoke them.

The two of them emerged onto a cobblestone road that cut through the sea of the trees, brightly colored fallen leaves characteristic to the Rift littering it.

This path should lead them straight to Riften, if she had not somehow gotten them turned around back at that bandit camp. If she was mistaken, she was in for an additional two or so hours of Serana's bellyaching about the daylight.

Speaking of which.. She had a feeling that such a protest was coming.

"Urgh," Serana growled at her side, and the Dragonborn turned toward her with an exasperated look on her face. "It's so bright out here, I don't know how you stand it." The vampire groused, her head tilted toward the sky and eyes squinted as she glared directly into the piercing glow of the sun.

 _If the sunlight is so painful for you, why are you looking right into it, you stupid vampire?_  The Dragonborn remarked internally, biting back another jaded sigh.

Externally, she lifted her hand towards the vampire and grabbed Serana's chin, forcefully tilting her face toward the road beneath them.

"Maybe it wouldn't sting so much if you didn't peer right into it, huh, vampire?" She suggested in an indifferent tone, maintaining her placid expression even when the vampire shot her a laughably miserable look.

And there it was.. that look. Those beseeching red eyes that rivaled even the saddest of puppies.

The Dragonborn had long since grown immune to Serana's charms; they still had some walking to do, and it was the vampire's own damn fault that she felt so wretched right now. She didn't even have her hood pulled up.

The Dragonborn flashed her companion a smile, letting her hand fall from the vampire's chin to reach around to the back of Serana's neck. She grasped the rim of the vampire's hood, and yanked it over her head.

Serana let out a muffled sound of objection, using her pale hands to swat the Dragonborn's away.

"We're almost there, Serana, you'll survive. Come on," She coaxed the vampire by propping her fist upon her hip, leaving a space between the bend of her arm and her side, an invitation for Serana to link her own limb with hers.

Without even a moment of hesitation, the vampire did so, advancing with her down the stretch of the winding cobblestone road.

"You owe me a drink once we get there." The vampire grumbled at her side, leaning a little further into her.

"Whatever you say,  _your Highness._ " The Dragonborn shot back teasingly.

* * *

Rain drizzled gently downward from the cloud-shrouded sky, creating puddles in the dirt and between the gaps of the cobblestone.

It pattered quietly into the straw that had been scattered from out beneath the awning of the horse stable, making the dead grass sopping wet and sticky.

The Dragonborn observed the mild rainfall from underneath the safety of the stable's roof, seated comfortably in a pile of hay that a nearby horse was tugging tufts of from to munch on.

The animal's chewing was a little loud, but not as loud as Serana's weary sigh of: "I'm no fan of the sun, but it would be better than this."

The Dragonborn sunk further into the straw all around her, exhaling heavily through her nose to communicate her dull irritation. She took a small sip from the half-full wine bottle that she and the vampire had been passing back and forth since the rain that started.

She enjoyed rain herself, the sound of it was soothing. Even the most violent of storms were calming to her in a way; the resounding rumbles of thunder strangely pacifying, and the ear-splitting cracks of lightning thrilling.

"It will pass soon." She reassured her nocturnal friend, offering the bottle to her.

Serana, as she had learned quickly, had a problem with every cycle of the weather. And she meant  _every_  type of weather.

* * *

At her side, Serana's chest swelled with a deep hum, a foreboding noise to the Dragonborn at this point.

 _Here we go..._  The woman lamented to herself, already hanging her head with ire before the vampire had even started to talk.

"We should get indoors.. or in a cave.. anywhere, just out of this." Serana groaned in her lyrical voice, the sullen edge to her tone somehow making the vampire sound even more sensuous than the inflection of her voice already was.

The Dragonborn tightened her grip on the bundle of dragon bones that she cradled in her arms, sweeping her gaze around Solitude's market street to find a suitably shady place for the vampire to rest in.

There was a canopy over the door of the Radiant Raiment clothes shop, which the Dragonborn nodded to, before nudging the vampire with her upper arm in its direction.

Serana sauntered into the shade that the shelter provided, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back into the wall near the shop's door.

The Dragonborn stood just out from under the canopy, allowing the midday sunlight fall upon her and quirking a brow as she locked eyes with the vampire. "I'm going to pay a visit to Beirand. Will you wait here for me?"

Serana flashed her a full-toothed grin, fangs and all glinting back at her.

"Oh, of course.  _Always_." The vampire practically purred, seemingly having regained enough energy to try to addle the mortal woman any way she should.

The Dragonborn took it in stride, returning the vampire's wolfish look with a smile of her own, though hers was a lot more sincere.

"Yes, promise me you'll wait for me  _my love_!" She called over her shoulder a little louder than necessary after she had pivoted around, jogging toward the ramp that led to Solitude Blacksmith without witnessing the vampire's flustered reaction.

* * *

It was the 3rd of Sun's Height, and it felt like the hottest day of the year to the Dragonborn.

The sun was shining strongly overhead, drilling into her from above and breaking a sweat out across the back of her neck and down her torso.

Thankfully, an opportunity to get out of its rays had presented itself: a cave.

A cave had never looked so inviting to the woman in all her life, and she suspected that Serana felt the same.

Miraculously, the vampire had not complained all that much about the severity of the daylight, but maybe that was because she looked like she was about ready to keel over where she stood, dragging her feet along behind the mortal woman.

Placing a steadying hand over the small of her companion's back, the Dragonborn led the haggard-looking vampire through the gaping mouth of the cavern, the both of them letting out simultaneous breaths of relief once they were in the shade.

The Dragonborn backed into the nearest moss-swathed wall, supporting herself against the slightly damp stone and trying to cool herself off by fanning her face with one of her hands.

"Oof," Serana grunted as she dropped completely onto the ground, her legs stretched out in front of her. "A cave.. please don't tell me we're going any deeper. I don't know about you, but I've spent my fair share of time in caves already."

All the Dragonborn's motions stopped at once, even her breathing.

Her patience, her boundless, never-ending patience for this woman, this vampire that she considered a dear friend, felt like it had just met its end.

Serana complained when they were in the sun. Serana complained when it rained, snowed, or even if the breeze was just a little too forceful. She complained constantly whenever they were outdoors, and being the adventurers that they were, was almost  _always_.

The Dragonborn sucked in a sharp breath.

"Woman," She hissed, so fiercely that Serana jolted where she sat. "What do you want from me?!" The Dragonborn shrieked, her shrill words echoing throughout the cavern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So this one was obviously a reference to all of Serana's in-game voice lines where she complains about LITERALLY EVERYTHING. God, I love her, but that woman never shuts up about the weather.**


	2. How not to use an Elder Scroll

The Dragonborn didn't even want to  _think_  about what was the mysteriously soggy and dark substance she was stepping in as she lurched backward to avoid the sharp teeth of the Skeever that was coming after her.

Readjusting the hilt of her ebony sword in her right hand, she swung the blade at the oversized rat, slicing a long gash over the top of its head.

The creature hissed, recoiling backward, and the woman lunged to thrust her blade downward, directly into its middle. The Skeever's spine was severed as her sword pierced all the way through it, the disease-riddled beast letting out a final howl before going limp.

Her Skeever now soaking in a pool of its own blood, the Dragonborn turned to see how her companion was faring against her opponent.

Icy panic spiked into the pits of her stomach at the sight that she was greeted with.

Serana was raising the Elder Scroll that she always had strapped to her back over her head, and the Dragonborn could not get her paralyzed body to obey her, to move, to stop Serana, before the vampire brought the legendary artifact down upon the Skeever's skull.

There was a loud  _crack!_ , and the overgrown rat squealed before it collapsed onto the sewer floor, dead.

"Serana!" The Dragonborn gasped in horror, quickly sliding her weapon into the sheathe attached to her hip as she rushed toward the vampire. "What the hell are you doing?!"

The vampire straightened herself, clutching the Scroll, its gold surface now stained with a splotch of red, in both of her palms.

Serana shrugged at her, her expression indifferent. "I dropped my dagger. This was all I had."

Hissing through her teeth, the Dragonborn wrapped her own fingers around the end of the Elder Scroll, and Serana let her yank it from her grip without resistance.

"Elder Scrolls are very powerful and rare artifacts! We must treat them with care, not use them as blunt-force weapons against Skeevers!" She scolded the vampire while using the heel of her hand to wipe the blood away and flick it off against the nearest wall.

"Hmm hmm," Serana hummed rather sardonically, and the Dragonborn stabbed her with a disapproving glare. "Yes, I'm well aware." The vampire gave her one of her characteristic shit-eating grins, folding her arms behind her back.

Huffing, the Dragonborn brushed her fingers along the metallic sleeve of the Scroll, then stopped seconds later as a thought struck her.

"Wait a damn second, you have magic! This was  _not_  all you had." She growled at her companion, cupping the Scroll protectively against herself.

 _Gods_ , this vampire was really driving her up the wall.


	3. Raising the Dead

The air smelled of death and dust, if dust even had a distinguishable scent.

It was there, though, because her nose was itching as the Dragonborn tread carefully through a winding tunnel of the old Nordic crypt.

She stepped lightly, barely making a noise at all as they went around a corner, her free hand trailing the wall. Serana was behind her, as eerily quiet as vampires were, hovering just at her shoulder.

The Dragonborn valued this type of time that they spent together: sneaking around old crypts, fighting side by side, and Serana having no opportunity to express her woes about the weather. The vampire still complained about dusty old caves though, but that was understandable.

She peered around the bend in the tunnel, which opened into a circular room lined by torch handles and tomb-like holes in the wall. She could make out human shapes in the holes, and the Dragonborn tightened her hold around the handle of her silver sword.

More draugr to fight. She hated them, they reeked of rot, knew magic, and were just plain creepy.

Blinking, the Dragonborn's spine stiffened when she realized that she could no longer feel Serana's presence behind her.

Where had that damn vampire gone?

Brows furrowing, she retreated fully behind the wall, and looked over her shoulder.

She was staring a corpse right in the face, just a foot from her own.

The Hero of Skyrim let out the most undignified yelp that a woman of her unparalleled bravery and stature could, jerking backwards and landing heavily on her backside, her sword flying from her grip.

Soft chuckling was then filling the silence of the crypt, and over her momentary alarm, the Dragonborn glared up at the source of it.

Serana stood behind her reanimation, arms hugging herself while she tried to muffle her own laughter.

"Serana.." The Dragonborn growled darkly, her hands curling into fists. Oh, she could bring herself to strangle the vampire right about now. "What's the one thing I asked you not to do?"

The vampire sighed heavily, wiping at the corner of her eye with her hand.

An impish smile painted her mouth. "Raise the dead?"

Oh, she did this on purpose!

Exhaling through her nose, the Dragonborn gestured angrily toward the draugr standing in front of her. "And what did you do?"

Serana shrugged at her, her red eyes sparkling and that damnable smirk still on her lips. "I raised the dead..."

"I-" The Dragonborn began hotly, but she cut herself short when she heard movement to her right. She turned toward it, and her mood soured.

All the noise they had made stirred the draugr, and now five or six of the walking corpses were ambling towards them with ancient swords and bows ready.

The Dragonborn turned back to Serana.

"I could kill you right now." She told the vampire.


	4. Warmth

Serana was very.. physical, the Dragonborn came to realize.

There was always some sort of contact between them if there could be: a brush of their shoulders, a hand upon her arm, and even once or twice the vampire sought out the Dragonborn's hand to intertwine their fingers.

It wasn't as if it was bothersome to her, there were worse people than Serana to have draped all over you, but the Dragonborn was mostly perplexed to  _why_  it was happening than  _what_  was happening.

Perhaps Serana was just that type of person, the one that constantly seeks comfort from others through touch. It was odd, however, because the vampire came off as very independent and sure of herself.

"Serana?" She inquired the day her curiosity had finally reached its limit.

The two women sat at the edge of the cobblestone road that connected to Solitude, a weakly flickering campfire between them. The vampire had a book balanced in her lap, and must have been very absorbed in it, because she flinched slightly when the silence was broken.

"Yes?" Serana responded, one of her elegant eyebrows arching.

The Dragonborn opened her mouth to ask the next question, but she hesitated, and closed her lips moments later. The vampire was now looking at her with a perplexed expression.

How could she phrase this without it sounding too.. weird?

"Why.." She started, then pursed her lips. Ugh, words were hard. "Why are you always so..  _touchy_?" She finally decided, so eloquently.

Serana blinked dumbly back at her, her brow quirking even higher.

Exhaling through her nose, the Dragonborn held up her own palm, and gestured to it with her other.

"Oh!" The vampire finally picked up on the context of her vaguely-phrased words, "That..." Her red eyes became downcast; she had taken a very intense interest in the pages of her book.

"You're.. warm." The vampire told her in a tone that was almost barely a whisper, looking rather bashful all of a sudden.

I'm what? The Dragonborn mused to herself, narrowing her eyes at the other woman.

Serana's gaze darted up to meet hers, and she huffed at the expression on the Dragonborn's face, rolling her eyes.

"Don't give me that look! It is what I said. Your body is warm, and mine," She raised her hand to place it over her chest, "..is cold as a corpse."

The Dragonborn reeled a little at the guilt she then saw shining in Serana's fiery eyes.

"When I touch you it's like.. hugging a Flame Atronich," The vampire broke eye contact, moving the hand from her chest to scratch nervously at her cheek. "Minus the.. searing pain. It's comforting."

The Dragonborn laughed lowly at the vampire's metaphor, then she flushed with endearment for the other woman.

_Oh, so that was the reason. How.. sweet._

Serana puffed out her cheeks in frustration indignation igniting within her eyes. She opened her mouth to no doubt defend herself, but the Dragonborn stopped her by shaking her head lightly.

"I'm not trying to call you out on it, Serana," She assured the vampire, a soft smile painting her lips. "If it brings you comfort, I don't mind at all. I was just curious."

The vampire's annoyed expression melted, morphing into pleasant surprise. 

"Oh.." Serana made some sort of quiet _hmming_ noise from the back of her throat, then she showed her fangs in a grin. "So you wouldn't mind if.."

...

 _Why did I agree to this?_ The Dragonborn asked herself ruefully. 

Serana was completely sprawled on top of her, her arms snaked around the Dragonborn firmly. She couldn't move. She could barely breath. The vampire's presence was absolutely suffocating when she was like this.

 _Hmph, I can't believe I once found this endearing!_ The woman groaned internally, flexing her body experimentally.

Nope, the vampire wasn't budging. She was stuck. Marvelous.

The Dragonborn released a drawn out, defeated breath, and accepted her fate. This was what she was now, a glorified pillow for Serana. She closed her eyes, and allowed herself to relax. 

 _It could be worse_ , she reasoned. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **And this one is from a tumblr prompt too, something about Serana being all cuddly and clinging to the DB when they get attacked by bandits, so she gets launched off of her at mach speed or something**


End file.
